Seeing Seattle

This morning we took a half day city tour and saw much of the city. I am so impressed by the beauty here and it is great for tourists. First we saw the area with the stadiums and big public venues. The Safeco Field for baseball has a retractable roof and next door the QWEST Field looks like a space ship. Next we visited Pioneer Square where the gold rush miners passed through on their way north. There was a firemen's festival going on here and we also saw a street fair in Chinatown.

Downtown we passed the art museum and some tall buildings. The city is very hilly and reminded me of San Francisco. Next we drove to the harbor and saw the ferries headed for the island communities and also Victoria. We saw some beautiful homes and also the houseboat where Sleepless in Seattle was filmed. An interesting stop was the locks, just like the Panama Canal. They also had a fish ladder here and we finally saw salmon swimming upstream.

Pike Place Market is wonderful and we hope to go back tomorrow and spend more time. It covers a huge area and there is so much to see. I did pose with the lucky pig which is a huge piggy bank with the money collected split between four charities. Near the University of Washington campus we saw a sculpture of a troll under an overpass. He takes up the entire area under the road and in his hand he's clutching a VW Bug.

Last stop was a park with great views of the Space Needle and Mount Rainier. It was a gorgeous, clear day and we had a good opportunity to enjoy the scenery and take photos.